Search

This book uses empirical research to introduce the relationship between nationalism, militarism and masculinity. The co-constitution between these three factors is susceptible to change and hinders reconciliation, according to the author. Drawing on the case of Cyprus, a country in conflict with Turkey, Efthymiou reveals how nationalism, militarism and masculinity were constructed after the war, and re-adapted following the opening of internal borders and European Union accession.\ud \ud Nationalism, Militarism and Masculinity in Post-Conflict Cyprus draws on rich field-research, with soldiers and officers in army barracks, politicians such as former President of Republic of Cyprus Glafkos Clerides, leaders of radical far-right movements and the Greek Cypriot public. The book offers invaluable insight into the application of nationalism, militarism and masculinity in governmental policy including by the Cyprus Defence Ministry, and will be of interest to students and scholars in sociology, gender studies, peace studies, security studies, politics and international relations, as well as governments and NGOs.

The purpose of this article is to present the concept of the ‘Multi-Communal Security Force’ and key considerations for future policy design on the issue in Cyprus. The complex political situation is constitutive of heavy military presence of six armies: the Greek Cypriot National Guard, the Hellenic Force of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot Security Forces Command, the Turkish Armed Forces in Northern Cyprus, the British Forces of Cyprus, and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. Changes made to this ‘defence-setting’ will result out of significant peace developments at the political level. Such changes will inevitably touch deeply the sense of ontological security of the two Cypriot communities. The concept of Multi-Communal Security Force (MCSF) is developed out of (1) comparative analysis with other post-conflict societies – South Africa and Lebanon – who successfully shared military power by integrating former antagonist groups. I also built on reflections from previous (2) empirical research on militarism, masculinity and nationalism in Cyprus, (3) policy work for the Cyprus Ministry of Defense, and (4) for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, as well as from (5) evaluation and assessment of the defence institutions of Cyprus with Transparency International. Today, the plans for whether united Cyprus will have an army or not – and what form that army will take – remain unclear. Therefore, this article provides early-stage policy indications for the MultiCommunal Security Force. If following the peace negotiations it is decided that an army will be established, it will be significant to inform policy-makers through well-researched policy recommendations of the practical as well as cultural arrangements that would position the army as an exemplary model of peace and effective co-existence. In doing so, I propose for the current armies of the two Cypriot communities to be integrated into a force that cares about security for all.

This report was based on research commissioned by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in 2013. It provides an overview of critique of relevant international standards addressing cultural rights; identifies examples of good practice and areas were problems have arisen and uses the City/Londonderry City of Culture 2013 designation as a case-study of the opportunities and challenges in relation to the realisation of the right to culture in post-conflict and divided societies.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is mandated as a national human rights institution to uphold all of the human rights in the international human rights treaties. These include the right to culture. However, the Commission has found that little attention has been paid to cultural rights in human rights discourse. In particular, the promotion and protection of cultural rights in societies emerging from conflict is a neglected area. Little guidance exists for States, cultural stakeholders and such human rights actors as national human rights institutions as to how best to uphold cultural rights in such contexts. This gap is of particular concern for the promotion of cultural rights in Northern Ireland, a society that is emerging from decades of conflict. It is in order to redress this gap in literature and policy guidance that the Commission is publishing the present report.\ud \ud The report is set against the backdrop of the designation of Derry/Londonderry as UK City of Culture 2013. The experience of that city as City of Culture is used as a case study in relation to the realisation of cultural rights in a post-conflict society. As part of the UK City of Culture initiative, the Commission organised a conference and consultation on cultural rights in divided and post-conflict societies in association with the University of Ulster and in co-operation with the UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights, Ms Farida Shaheed. This event took place in Derry/Londonderry from 1 to 3 July 2013 and the discussions that took place informed the finalisation of the current report as well as the attached recommendations.

This report, conducted for the Cyprus Ministry of Defence, describes detailed research on draft-dodging and recommends policy on enlistment, based on the understanding of positive motivation. The principal objectives of the study were (a) to determine the structure of reasons that lead to draft evasion, to then (b) propose policies for positive motivation that address isolate factors by building a new structure of reasoning for enlistment today, in a way (c) that prepares the nexus of discourses in society to then accept enlisting by choice in the future professional force.